Sean Hayes is best known for his now iconic portrayal of Jack McFarland on NBC’s recently rebooted hit comedy series Will & Grace. But beyond his accomplishments as an award-winning performer in television, film and theater, he is a successful producer and writer as well. Now, just in time for the holidays, Hayes is adding one more title to his growing list—that of author. And he’s not doing it alone.

(Courtesy Simon & Schuster)

Hayes and his music composer and producer husband, Scott Icenogle, have channeled their shared love of one of the world’s most beloved stories into a new children’s book, Plum: How the Sugar Plum Fairy Got Her Wings, born out of their passion for the classic holiday tale The Nutcracker and inspired by their desire to know where it all started.

“When we first met 12 years ago, the thing that connected us the most was creativity and music. Amadeus and The Nutcracker are two of our favorite productions. When I was a kid, I listened to that record over and over and over again,” Hayes recalls of the two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. “I memorized every note of every instrument, from every song, in the entire ballet.”

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“Around the holidays, we would always watch the ballet on PBS and think to ourselves, This is just such a wonderful, amazing piece of creativity and art,” Icenogle shares. “We’d always comment on these spectacular characters and toy around with the idea of doing something about where they came from.”

And although the couple had considerable interest in highlighting the stories before the story, their routinely busy schedule derailed any progress they hoped to make on that front for several years. “Life takes a twist or a turn,” Icenogle offers. “Or a job comes in and our lives get turned upside down because of a film, TV or Broadway show. But finally, we had this opportunity to do it.”

Hayes and Icenogle manifested their vision in the form of a picture book based on the early life of the Sugar Plum Fairy, who they affectionately named Plum. The heartwarming tale is one of kindness, hope and compassion. Young Plum, an orphan at the Mary Fitzgerald Orphanage, is set upon a magical journey and transported to the Land of Sweets by a mysterious magician. Though she faces some initial challenges, her kind heart is the key to a joyful conclusion. The story borrows from the pair’s lives in a variety of ways—including that this is a story featuring two kings, King Christopher and King Patrick, who wind up adopting Plum. (Watch their heartwarming video intro to the book below.)

“There are a million books with a king and a queen.” says Hayes. “They say, write what you know. We think we’re quite normal, so we wrote what is normal to us. The focus of the book is Plum’s life and the fact that she is now adopted into a loving family. There are all kinds of families and all should be accepted,” he continues. “There’s no hidden agenda. It’s just who we are.”

Plum joins a growing list of wonderfully diverse children’s books featuring LGBT characters, paving the way for further understanding, compassion and inclusion.

“Wouldn’t it be a better world if children learned acceptance of all human beings at an early age?” Hayes asks. “We always talk about having kids. We don’t have kids of our own, because our lives are too busy. And I wouldn’t dare bring a child into this hectic life we lead…at the moment,” he shares. “So it’s a little bit of wish fulfillment, on our end, to adopt Plum ourselves. King Christopher—that’s actually Scott’s real first name—and my middle name is Patrick, so King Patrick.”

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Many of the characters in the book get their names from friends and family, even the couple’s dog, Buzz, and Hayes’ childhood dog, Rugs. But there is also a special tribute in the book to Hayes’ late mother, Mary Hayes. “My mom’s maiden name was Mary Fitzgerald,” Hayes reveals. “That’s where the name of the orphanage comes from in the book.”

A fitting tribute to a woman who worked tirelessly over the course of 25 years to grow a tiny community pantry in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, into the Northern Illinois Food Bank, a nonprofit food assistance agency that now serves 10 counties as an affiliate of Feeding America and introduced programs that currently provide 822,000 meals to kids each year. She did so while raising five kids as a single mother, but still found time to deliver sandwiches, milk and fresh fruit to needy children in neighboring communities. Hayes explains that Christmas was her favorite holiday: “My mom always made sure it was the best, most special time of year for everyone. She worked so hard to make it special.”

When it came time to find someone to give life to their story through illustration, the couple wanted to give the opportunity to an up-and-coming artist.

“We found Robin [Thompson] with the help of our brilliant publisher, Justin Chanda at Simon & Schuster,” Hayes says. “We said, ‘Ideally, it would be great to find somebody who has the ability and talent, right out of school. Someone who will have a really fresh take.’ And he replied, ‘Well, good luck! Everybody is looking for that person.’ Then a month later he said, ‘You’re not going to believe this, but I found that person! And her name is Robin Thompson.’ We were just floored when we saw her work,” Hayes recalls. “We chose her, and she chose us. It was a wonderful creative marriage.”

Thompson’s whimsical illustrations have a distinct style that demonstrates her deft understanding of the story. While the characters possess warmth and likability, it is the interplay between shadow and light that seems to elevate them from the page. For the scenes in the orphanage, the light exists to demonstrate the circumstances of the children and their isolation from the outside world. However, when Plum travels to the Land of Sweets, she is awash in a vibrant world of color and whimsy.

“Our personal vision was to have the book feel almost instantly classic,” Icenogle explains. “The goal was to present it as though it could be taking place anywhere at any time.”

Now that they’ve completed their first prequel for The Nutcracker, will more be on the way? “Absolutely, I would love to explore more of the characters and write more backstories,” Hayes says. “In addition to whatever else we think of when we wake up in the morning and toss ideas back and forth, over coffee and doughnuts.”

As far as any madcap memories, the couple had differing experiences as children, but have found that the perfect balance through their relationship. “We used to decorate our tree with not just a little bit of tinsel, but boxes and boxes and boxes of it,” Hayes recalls with a laugh. “You couldn’t see any of the ornaments on the tree and you could barely see the the lights. We just thought that was the coolest thing.”

“I was an only child and I grew up in a military family, so it was a little more buttoned-up. Christmas was very special. I would have a wonderful holiday with my mom and dad,” Icenogle says. “Sean’s personality is so big, wonderfully big, but mine is a little more subdued. When Sean and I met, it was wonderful to find someone who made me laugh as much as he did and said it was okay for me to be silly. He brought that out in me over these last 12 years. Now I feel more loosey-goosey!”

As for their current traditions, the couple keeps things close to home. “Every Christmas day we have a big, big, big brunch with a bunch of family and friends,” Hayes shares. “It keeps growing and growing. Now there are like 20 people who come over on Christmas day.”

“And we watch The Nutcracker, of course!” Icenogle interjects.

“Yes! Every single year.” Hayes replies. “Some channels have a Nutcracker marathon, where they show all these different versions of the Nutcracker, and we are the nerds that will actually watch all of them!”

Plum is available now online and in stores. Recommended for kids 4-8 years old.

AMG/Parade Digital

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